


Backwards in Time

by underworld_kings18



Series: The Adventures of the Time Travelling Assassin [1]
Category: Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alive Reginald Hargreeves, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dimension Travel, Gen, Good Reginald Hargreeves, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Season/Series 01 Finale, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Redemption, Sorry Not Sorry, Superpowers, Time Travel, mentions of eating disorders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:14:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28036785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/underworld_kings18/pseuds/underworld_kings18
Summary: all he wanted to do was save his family. he never meant to do this, but he can't find himself regretting it when they get the chance to have the childhoods they never got to have.--This is also posted on my wattpad account @underworld-kings under 'The Time Travelling Assassin'. it has a more in depth summary and notes after each chapter, also cast lists and gif's.Previously called 'The Time Travelling Assassin'
Series: The Adventures of the Time Travelling Assassin [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2053680
Comments: 4
Kudos: 64





	1. Prologue

__

_"_ _did we do it?"_

_"i think so."_

_"yay. go team."_

"we use my ability to time travel." five revealed, only moments from dying in the end of the world. "only this time, i take you all with me."

"can you do that?" diego asked.

"only one way to find out." they all joined hands, allison and diego holding either of luther's arms since he was carrying vanya, and ben, unseen by all but klaus, put his hand on his arm.

"get ready." five gathered his energy and closed his eyes. unseeing, he allowed his power to surge through him. faintly he heard his siblings shouting and hands getting slightly smaller in his own, before they disappeared in a flash of blue energy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> starring;
> 
> cameron brodeur as luther hargreeves, one  
> blake talabis as diego hargreeves, two  
> eden cupid as allison hargreeves, three  
> dante albidone as klaus hargreeves, four  
> aidan gallagher as aidan hargreeves, five (i know, not creative. if you have a better idea please tell me in the comments)  
> ethan hwang as ben hargreeves, six  
> t.j. mcgibbon as vanya hargreeves, seven
> 
> authors note  
> there are six chapters of phase 1 of this story. it is mostly just the umbrella academy kids, focusing mostly on five, adjusting to having a father who gives a crap, and a quick guest star of tony stark and pepper potts. i tried to make it as vague as possible regarding five's background, since all will be revealed about my twist to his time with the commission.
> 
> i hope you all enjoy!


	2. One

_ _

_ new york city, new york... _   
_ 2002... _   
_ earth-616... _

The Icarus Theatre was, thankfully, empty when they arrived So when a group of seven 13-year-olds appeared in the middle of the theatre in a flash of electric blue energy that they'd come to attribute Five and Klaus' powers with and sharp shouts of shock and surprise and one yelp of pain, there was nobody there to question them. They all went sprawling across the stage, Luther still holding his sister tight so she didn't get hurt when he fell. Ben and Klaus landed on top of each other, and all of the siblings were frozen. Pain sparked through all of Five's senses as he tried to regain a his footing, but ultimately landed on his side in a uncoordinated sprawl, gasping from the pain.

"D-did we m-make it?" Diego asked carefully, pushing himself upright. "Five?" The teenager let out a low groan instead of replying, pale skin flush and a hand pressing against his abdomen.

"Well we look 13 again." Klaus said once Ben had rolled off him. "So, that should count as successful, right?" The siblings minus Five and Vanya exchanged wary glances, but reluctantly nodded.

"We should get back, before dad gets to angry." Ben said rather reluctantly, making his actual, alive presence noticed. Before he knew it he was bombarded by Allison and Diego, and he and Klaus got knocked backwards. It startled a laugh out of Ben, who wrapped his arms around his siblings just as tight. After a moment they all separated, and Luther gave his brother a bright grin that came with the promise of a hug later.

"Fivey?" Klaus crawled across the stage to Five, who had barely moved from where he fell. Klaus put his hand on Five's forehead. "Holy- he's burning up!"

"'m fine." Five swatted Klaus' hand off him. Diego levelled him with a stare.

"Oh yeah? If you can sit up without blacking out we'll believe you." Five shot his brother a sharp glare, but didn't even consider trying to move without assistance. His entire body felt like he'd been through a shredder, skin taught, his side burning like fire against his skin, and his ankle still hurt. He knew he'd heal, but it didn't mean it didn't fucking hurt right then and there.

"Ben? Ima need some help." Five reluctantly admitted. The siblings gathered themselves up, Klaus and Ben staying crouched beside Five.

"I can carry him best on my back." Ben said. Klaus nodded and got behind Five, helping him upright. Five furrowed his brow and tensed his jaw, trying not to scream from the pain. He wrapped his arms around Ben's neck and he stood, not even phased by the additional weight of his brother. "Jesus, Five. You weigh less than Klaus!"

"Not much to eat in an apocalypse." Five mumbled against Ben's shoulder. "Afterwards, small appetite, food tastes like ash. Eating disorder of some kind." They all winced in sympathy and slipped out the theatre unnoticed, beginning the trek back to the mansion. Vanya woke up half way home, and Luther set her on her feet.

"I'm so sorry." Vanya sounded pure miserable. Allison slid up beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her close. Her voice was still gone, just making Vanya feel worse, but Allison signed a familiar gesture.

' _family_.' Vanya ducked her head, her brown bangs falling into her eyes.

"We'll talk about it at home." Ben said, cutting off any reply that Luther or Diego might have had. The sun was setting when they got home, and for a moment none of them did anything. Five had passed out a few moments ago, and Vanya was nearly asleep on her feet. Klaus was holding Ben's hand, helping the boy support his brother, and wasn't prepared to let go any time soon. Eventually they went inside, Luther holding the door open as they all filed in, and they were greeted by a strange sight. Their parents, Reginald and Grace were standing close in the foyer, pulling on coats as if ready to start looking for them. When the door closed, both adults looked up, gasping at the sight of them.

"M-mom?" Diego said hesitantly.

"Oh, thank the lord." All of them flinched, eyes wide. Their mother had always had a generic American accent and wore 1950's style clothes, but this woman's accent was thick, Texan from what they could recall, and was wearing dark boot cut jeans and a red shirt. She looked slightly older, wrinkles at her eyes, but otherwise she looked the same as she always had. "Where have you been? You worried us sick, disappearing like that at breakfast!" Stunned, none of them said a word. Reginald looked at them, looking almost exactly as he had the last time any of them had seen him, and noticed what appeared to be complete confusion and fear on their faces.

"Children, what's the matter?" Reginald asked. "What has happened to Vanya? To Five?" Once again the siblings were confused, because Reginald showing any amount of affection towards any of them had been rare, but he'd never called any of them by the names their mother had given them. Not even at Ben's Funeral. "Well?"

"It's a long story." Luther finally said, stepping forward. "But Five's hurt, bad."

"Bring him to the infirmary." Grace ordered. When they got to the infirmary Ben and Klaus very carefully set Five down on the bed, the movement waking him and causing jolts of pain in him.

"Shit." Five groaned, dropping his head back.

"What happened?" Grace asked. Five froze, eyes wide as he stared up at his mother. His mother, who by his knowledge died a few hours ago.

"Explosion." Five said when he got his voice back. "Shrapnel. Um, possible sprained ankle, torn acl. Possible broken ribs." Grace and Reginald exchanged rather confused and concerned expressions.

"And how did you get such injuries?" Reginald asked. Grace started cutting away Five's clothes, exposing the wound.

"I blew up a room full of time travelling suitcases." Five deadpanned. Reginald just nodded as though this was a normal decision for one of his children.

"Was there a purpose to such a reckless decision, Aidan?"

"My name is Aidan?" Five mumbled in confusion. "And yes. The Handler was trying to kill me so i couldn't stop the apoca- SHIT!" Pain shot through Five at the same time Grace started cleaning his side.

"I'm sorry, honey." Grace said apologetically.

"It's fine." He gritted his teeth. "I just wasn't expecting it. I wanted to stop the apocalypse. She wanted it to happen."

"And it happened anyway." Diego said, crossing his arms.

"I said i was sorry, Diego." Vanya flinched away from her brother and further into Allison's arms. She shot Luther a glare, daring him to even open his eyes.

"None of it would have happened if you hadn't locked Vanya up, Luther." Klaus pointed out.

"She was a danger to all of us." Luther defended his actions.

"No, you were just pissed she accidentally hurt Allison." Klaus glared at Luther. "You made a decision, refused to listen to any of us, and the world ended!" The room fell silent. None of them had ever heard Klaus get so defensive, or talk back to Luther. "So, stay away from Vanya." He finished.

"Children." Reginald said sharply. They all ducked their heads. "Go wait outside, i'll be with you momentarily." With a look at Five, who nodded, they all slipped out of the infirmary and left the room.

"What's this?" Grace asked curiously, touching her fingers to a long scar along his hairline. Five grabbed her wrist, fear flashing across his eyes.

"Don't." He said darkly.

"Alright." She assured him. Together, Reginald and Grace made quick work of treating Five's injuries, both frightfully aware of how Five had refused any kind of pain medication. The second they were done Five jumped away from them, back pressed up against the wall of the infirmary. His weight was all on his right side, left injured from everything, but he had enough energy to use his powers again.

"Aidan, we are not going to hurt you."

"My name, is Five." He said through gritted teeth, tense. He was completely on edge, his mind teetering on the edge of a flashback. "This, is it some kind of trick?"

"What would i gain from playing a trick on my children, Five?" Reginald asked, looking rather sincere. Five's fingers twitched. There were equations flying across his mind, theories and ideas and possibilities in his head to explain what had happened, what had changed. But Five was too far gone in his flashback now, and when he blinked and he was standing in the Headquarters infirmary and Grace and Reginald were now two scientists with needles he completely freaked and jumped, disappearing from the room, the last words he said ringing through their ears before he was gone completely.

"It never stopped you before."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think. constructive criticism is appreciated, but if you don't like the fic please, from the bottom of my heart, get the hell away from my story's.


	3. Two

_ _

_ the hargreeves family mansion... _   
_ new york city, new york... _   
_ 2002... _

"In the timeline we remember, Five ran away at breakfast a month after our 13th birthday." They had decided that Ben would be the best person to explain their story, since he was always the more articulate of the group. The rest of their siblings were looking for Five and taking turns showering upstairs. Klaus was beside Ben, his fingers tapping against his thigh. "He insisted he was ready to time travel and you told him he'd never be ready." Reginald looked rather upset by that, surprising the brothers. "He was gone for 17 years, but him leaving destroyed the family. Klaus turned to drugs, Vanya turned against herself and became cold, Allison and Diego left as soon as they could, and i died. When he came back, he was different. Angry,"

"Homicidal." Klaus chimed, lounging back on the chair and running his fingers through his flat, goth hair style he sported at 12.

"Secretive." Ben finished, shooting Klaus a look. "Klaus and i weren't around for much."

"I ended up in Vietnam for 9 months after getting kidnapped and tortured by two time travelling assassins looking for little Fivey." Klaus revealed, showing their father the set of tags that he had around his neck. Reginald's eyebrows shot up at that.

"When we found out Vanya had powers and that you had been suppressing them her entire life, it was because she accidentally hurt Allison. That's why she can't speak, her vocal cords are damaged. Luther then proceeded to choke her and throw her into this soundproof prison in the subbasement. Vanya then tore down the house, killed mom and Pogo, then destroyed the world. Five brought us back in time in hopes that we could help Vanya learn to control her powers early, so we could prevent the apocalypse." Ben finished.

"Well, that is quite the story." Reginald said after a moment. "But, you have no reason to lie, and it does explain a few things." Both boys breathed sighs of relief. "We will discuss this in more detail tomorrow. Go, shower and change. I do not expect you to wear your uniforms unless you are learning. We'll go over the rules at dinner. Now, i'll see if i can locate your brother."

Five had been hidden up in one of the smaller unused rooms of the mansion when Reginald finally found him. The boy was knelt on the floor and scribbling on the wall in chalk, looking half out of it. The walls and floor were covered in scribbles of equations and thoughts, and Reginald was stunned by them momentarily. Each was part of a larger equation, detailing different timelines and jump ratios. Reginald approached slowly, crouching about a foot away before clearing his throat. Five flinched, spinning on his good knee and pressing his back up against the wall. He was reaching for a weapon he didn't have, which just worried Reginald further.

"Five." Reginald spoke, abiding by the boy's preference to be called a number. "Are you alright?"

"Am i-?" Five cut himself off. He was suddenly completely back to himself, blinking several times. The pain in his side was at a dull ache, thankfully no stitches torn. His leg was hurting from the prolonged position and there was phantom pain in his old scar. "She's going to come after me. I've made too many changes to the timeline but I cant- I can't account for the changes or for the- the differences." He sounded far to much like the 13 year old he looked like rather than the 58-year-old man he was inside. But to be fair, Five hadn't been this terrified since he jumped into the apocalypse 45 years ago. Everything in Five was on the defence then, clearly prepared to fight back.

"I spoke with your brothers. They told me some of what happened." Reginald revealed.

"I didn't mean to get stuck." Five said quietly.

"I believe you." Reginald held his hand out, two small white pills on his palm. "Take them, they're paracetamol." Five clearly didn't know if he could trust Reginald, and briefly white-hot rage flashed through him at the thought of someone causing such mistrust in his son. But he took them, swallowing them dry. "You worked for the Commission?"

"She said she rescued me." Five said bitterly, turning his eyes to a set of equations. IT only took Reginald a moment to decipher them. "She used me. She wanted me. She turned us into killers." Before he could ask who 'we' were, Five kept speaking. "I did it all, because i knew i needed to get back to them, to save them from dying. I did everything i could to save those fucking assholes but they didn't listen and now-"

"You've changed the timeline." Reginald finished.

"I think, when I jumped us here, I was wishing our lives had been better." Five pointed over to the wall. "I was thinking about helping Vanya, of saving my family. I wasn't thinking about the ramifications. I didn't think i could manipulate time like that without conscious thought." He was also thinking, hoping, he might see them again, but he didn't hold out hope. The equation detailed how Five's thought process could detail how things are when he time travels. Reginald was impressed.

"These are very well thought out, Five."

"Thanks." He twisted on his knees to a half finished equation to his left and scribbled the answers. "You were very insistent on them being right. Made me write and re-write and study them until it was all I could think about sometimes."

"Perhaps next time you could write them down in here, not on the floors and walls." Five paused in his writings, surprised to see Reginald holding out a navy blue notebook. It was A5, but thick, about 200 pages, blank with a gold ribbon to mark the last page he was at. There was a fancy stencilled '5' on the front.

"What do you want in return?"

"I don't want anything Five. It's a gift." He accepted it, opening the first page and running his hand over the blank paper.

"I can't remember the last time anyone gave me something without wanting something in return." Five mumbled. Reginald held out a pencil for him, one with an eraser on the opposite end.

"Copy down the equations you need and then join us in the basement kitchen for dinner. Grace is cooking duck. You don't want to miss it."

"Why are you being so nice?" Five asked, feeling all of his years and sounding like a child at the same time.

"Because I love my children." Reginald informed him, matter of factly, standing up. "Just because you are not the same children that sat down for breakfast this morning does not mean you are not still my children. I will support you, love you, and care for you however I can. If writing on the floors and walls helps you, we can invest in some chalkboard paint for some of the walls in a few days. Please wash up and change before dinner. Uniforms only have to he worn between 9am and 3.30pm on weekdays. As it is almost 6, on a Thursday, you may put something comfortable on. We will be going over the house rules at dinner." And with that he left, leaving Five gawking after him. After a few moments, Five started copying down the equations into the journal, his mind wandering as he did.


	4. Three

__

_hargreeves family mansion..._   
_new york city, new york..._   
_2002..._

It took him the better part of an hour to copy down the equations, but they didn't take up much more than the first couple of pages of the book. After, he'd jumped straight into the bathroom he knew was empty and locked the door, washing the chalk off his hands before stripping off his blood stained clothes and stepping under the cool spray of the shower. It took a few minutes to get it to a temperature that didn't him spiralling into a panic attack, and he only took a few minutes to clean himself before he finished. He turned off the shower and wrapped himself in a towel, gathered up his clothes, unlocked the door and jumped back to his bedroom. He winced at the pain on landing, stumbling back against his bed.

"Fucking hell." Five cursed. He dropped his clothes on the floor, reaching for the roll of sports tape and scissors sitting on his dresser and he expertly wrapped his ankle and knee once he dried off. It helped, though there wasn't much Five could do for the bruising on his ribs since his side was stitched up. Eventually he got up, heading for the closet at the far side of his room. Five stood in front of his closet, the notebook sitting on the desk, gawking. He'd never actually owned so many different options of clothing before, and deciding what to wear was, decidedly, daunting. Shirts hung up next to his 5 academy uniforms. There was a four-box shelf, each containing different kinds of trousers along one wall. A longer box sat on top, full of pyjamas. Shoes, four different pairs, lined up against the opposite wall. The chest of drawers at the far back of the closet was filled with t-shirts of different kinds. It threw him off, but he shook his head and slowly picked out clean clothes. Fresh underwear, a pair of fluffy socks that felt like heaven under his fingers. He chose a red t-shirt with a small stencilled planet over the breast. None of the Jean's or corduroy trousers felt right, but he found a pair of leggings in the pyjama box that were made of a thick, dark grey material that, like the rest of the clothes picked, felt soft. He was sitting on the bed, slowly pulling on his socks when there was a knock at the door.

"Five?"

"What?" Five snapped. He scrubbed the towel over his wet hair.

"Mom said dinner was ready and to come get you." Luther replied. Five paused, unsure.

"I'll meet you there." That seemed to satisfy his brother, his footsteps echoing down the hall until they disappeared. Five breathed out, hating the feel of anxiety curling in his gut. He gathered up the dirty clothes and towel and put them in the hamper beside the door, picked up the notebook and pen again. He ran his fingers across the gold stencilling, flipping it open to his last equation copied from the floor. It was incomplete, wrong, driving him crazy. He snapped the book closed again, picked up the dark grey hoodie that was draped over the back of his desk chair and jumped into the kitchen, only minutely wincing at the pain.

"Five!" Vanya jumped up from her chair and gave him a hug, which he only barely tolerated before he separated them, stepping back uncomfortably.

"Vanya." Five said evenly. She looked upset.

"Are-are you mad at me?"

"What?" Five asked, sounding alarmed by the mere thought. "Why would I be mad at you? It wasn't your fault."

"I blew up the moon, Five." Vanya deadpanned, biting her thumbnail. Her bangs fell over her eyes and Five had forgotten how much he'd missed his sister. He went to brush her hair out of her eyes but stopped last moment, the idea of touching his sister making his skin crawl. Instead he shoved his hand into his pocket.

"And I've killed people." Five shrugged, sliding into the seat beside her and shrugging on the hoodie, frowning at the 'Stark Industries' logo emblazoned on it. She sat back in her chair, stiff as a board. "I feel no remorse, or regret for what i've done. Not for the things i had no say in the matter. Are you mad at me about that?"

"Well, no-"

"How about we don't talk about such depressing shit at the dinner table?" Ben asked, tone 'I'm done with you already and I've only been alive 12 hours'. Vanya ducked her head and Five huffed, but they did drop it. Five pulled his knees up to his chest, pressing them against the table and opened up the notebook and begins writing. Klaus and Ben were talking quietly, Vanya was composing in her own small notebook beside him, legs crossed in her seat. Luther and Allison were also talking, but using sign language. For the first time in 45 years all of Five's family were in one place, alive and nearly whole, and he wanted to be as far away from all of them for as long as possible.

"Good, you're all here." Reginald slipped into a chair at the end of the table, giving his children a kind smile. "I have been informed that there are differences from what each of you remember from your own childhoods. We will discuss it over the next few days, but for now i thought i should go over the house rules and the basics. Due to your powers, i made the decision to home school you until High School, at which point you can continue home schooling or attend Midtown Science and Technology High. However, Five, Ben and Luther, you are all working through High School level work now, and at the rate of continuation will be able to graduate at the end of this school year. Five, you are working on your college applications, MIT and CalTech being your first choices. Ben, you were deciding between Yale, Harvard or Columbia for pre-med. Luther, you wished to go to MIT or Yale for engineering, your goal to become an astronaut. Five, you also have an off the books Internship with Stark Industries, working closely with Mr Stark. Luther you are in the Air Force Cadets, Ben you and Klaus are in a book club at the library. Allison, you are in several theatre production groups. Vanya, you are in violin lessons and you expressed a desire to go to music school. Diego, you have been expressing an interest in becoming a police officer, and you are in a communal soccer team at the local Y. Klaus, you also volunteer at an animal rescue on the weekends." They each showed their shock at all of that. They hadn't been allowed to do anything like that growing up.

"Dinner is at 7pm every night." Grace spoke next, putting plates in front of each of the children. "Your father and i take it in turns making dinner, and on fridays we have take-out and Saturdays we have pizza. Uniforms only have to be worn between 9am and 3.30pm Monday through Thursday. Friday mornings are for physical fitness and personal training, and then you have the afternoon free. Curfew is 10pm on weekdays and 11 on weekends, 12 during the holidays. We ask you keep your phones on you while out, so we can contact you in an emergency or vice versa. We encourage you to use your powers, but nothing that violates anybody's sense of self or could cause them harm." Grace finished, setting the last plate down and sitting in the last seat, between Diego and Luther. "Do you have any questions?"

"Oh, so many." Klaus muttered, half-hysterically. He hissed at Ben when he elbowed him in the side.

"We will do our best to answer any questions you have, children." Reginald assured firmly. "We have our own questions, so do not hesitate to ask."

"You all said you travelled back in time 17 years, correct?" Grace asked them all. They nodded. "Perhaps you could let me know of any issues regarding food, medication, sleeping arrangements." Five snorted silently. His list of issues were a mile long and he was not revealing them to his siblings. Quiet discussions echoed through the basement kitchen when it became clear that they weren't going to be yelled at for speaking. Five picked through his food, each bite as flavourless as the last until his stomach lurched violently and he dropped his fork with a clatter on the plate and jumped out of the kitchen before anyone could so much as blink.

The remaining children froze, unsure of what to do. They'd never been allowed to leave the table without being excused, so for Five to jump out of the room, knowing their powers were not to be used at the dinner table, had them all frozen in their seats.

"I'll check on Aidan." Grace wiped her hands on her napkin, brushing a kiss against Reginald's cheek before she exited the kitchen. Diego glanced at Ben across the table, making eye contact with him.

"What did Five tell you about getting stuck in the apocalypse?" Ben asked their father. Reginald chewed, thinking.

"Nothing beyond being stuck." Reginald revealed.

"Look, he'll be pissed we told you but it'll probably help in the long run. When Five jumped forward and got stuck in the future, he found nothing more than a post-apocalyptic wasteland, desolate and destroyed. And somehow, against all odds, Five lived there for 45 years."


	5. Four

__

_hargreeves family mansion..._   
_new york city, new york..._   
_2002..._

When Grace found her son, he was leant over the toilet and emptying the content of his stomach. A small frown marring her features, she knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder. He gave a full body flinch under the touch, but just retched without complaint. He pulled away, a low groan escaping him, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth.

"Are you alright, Aidan?" Grace asked.

"I'm fine." Five grumbled. Grace raised an eyebrow, and he sighed. "It wasn't the food. My taste buds have not been the same in, oh, decades now. Everything tastes bland, and i haven't kept a full meal down since i was 10."

"Is this a cause of your extended stay in the apocalypse?" Grace asked him carefully.

"Partially." He nodded. He wasn't even close to being ready to mention his time with the Commission. "I've always, as long as i could remember, have some kind of eating problem. It was only exacerbated by the Commission and growing old in a post-apocalyptic wasteland."

"How is your stomach?" Grace asked gently. He considered the question.

"Fine." He admitted tersely. He considered himself, but like fuck was he going to admit anything to anyone. He couldn't afford to have any weaknesses.

"When was the last time you slept?"

"Voluntarily, 2 weeks ago." Five deadpanned. "Involuntarily, 2 days ago after i passed out from blood loss. Was kinda busy, trying to save those assholes lives."

"Those are your siblings, Aidan." Grace frowned.

"They're still assholes. They didn't believe me, Vanya called me crazy, Luther humoured me for days, so i couldn't trust em to help me." Five yawned at that exact moment, cursing silently.

"Go, get some rest, my boy." Grace ran her hand over his hair and kissed his forehead. "I'll have someone bring your notebook up from the kitchen." She turned to leave, heading for the door. Five sat frozen, leaning half against the ceramic.

"Thank you, mom."

Despite how tired he was, Five figured he should take a minute to look around his attic bedroom. It was bigger than he remembered, somehow, and vaguely he recalled there being four bedrooms on the top floor where he and Ben stayed, but only two of the rooms had ever been occupied. His bed was a double instead of a single, with black sheets and several soft blankets and four pillows. The bedside table had a white lamp sitting on it, a physics textbook and a Stark Industries security badge. It had his full name on it, and a Level 6 security tag on it with the design of crackling electricity in the same shade of blue his powers presented. When he investigated the drawers he found an assortment of high caloric foods in the bottom drawer and a smaller notebook that detailed what situation called for what food. He was rather confused by that, but ignored it for the moment. The middle drawer had school books, pencils, pens, erasers, markers, post it notes, rules etc. The top drawer had an assortment of small knickknacks, little toys and random pieces of junk. He shrugged, sliding under the warm covers after closing the curtains and closed his eyes, hoping to get some sleep before the nightmares started.

The Hargreeves Children were no stranger to nightmares. Ben and Klaus suffered from them most frequently, enough so that their rooms had been soundproofed. Five had also had his fair share of nightmares, but the boy was also an insomniac so they were few and far between. That was not the case that night. Every child and adult was woken by the screaming. Klaus launched himself up, narrowly missing colliding with Ben in the hallway as they ran to Five's room.

"What the hell?" Luther mumbled, stumbling into the hallway at the same time as Allison from the room opposite.

"Five's having a nightmare." Klaus said, opening the bedroom door. Sure enough their oldest brother was curled up on the bed, mumbling and frantically tugging his hair. Klaus sat on the bed beside Five, putting a hand on his brother. "Hey, Fivey."

"No, no." He mumbled, frantic.

"Five." Klaus shoved his shoulder, hard and he woke, violently throwing himself upright so fast Klaus couldn't move fast enough and their heads collided. "Dammit!"

"Klaus?" Five sounded broken, his voice cracking, wincing. The harsh movement had tugged his stitches and jarred his ribs. "W-what are you doing here?"

"You were having a nightmare." Klaus said, rubbing his forehead. Five's eyes darted towards the door, where his siblings were gathered. It was at that exact moment that Reginald and Grace rushed into the hallway, looking concerned which was yet another new thing for any of them to have seen.

"Is everyone alright?" Reginald demanded. "We heard screaming." None of the children knew how to react, how to answer. The father they'd grown up with would have never come running to check on them at 3am, dressed in pyjamas and his feet bare. "Well?"

"Five had a nightmare." Luther blurted out.

"Luther!" Ben and Klaus both shouted at him, Vanya and Allison glaring. Five shrank in on himself, as if he was ashamed. He gripped his elbows with both hands, looking down.

"Are you alright, darling?" Grace asked. Five hesitated, clearly unsure of how he was supposed to answer that.

"I'm fine." He bit out, unable to hide the shake in his voice.

"Come on children, back to bed." Reginald ushered his children out of Five's room, Grace guiding them out until Reginald was left with his oldest son.

"Five." Reginald said. Five blinked, looking up. He'd never heard that tone from his father before. He sat at the end of Five's bed and unconsciously he leaned away from Reginald. "Your brothers mentioned you spent 45 years in an apocalypse. That you spent all that time alone, never hearing or seeing another soul."

"It was an accident." Five said, voice quiet. "I went into the ice and never acorned."

"Time travel is tricky." Reginald agreed. "But you have successfully travelled in time now."

"Four times using my powers." Five agreed.

"Are you still there?" Reginald asked. Five looked at him.

"I think so. I think I'm still waiting for this to have been some elaborate dream. That I'll blink and I'm back in the apocalypse and everything that's happened will have been some delirious fever dream."

"Perhaps." Reginald agreed. "But there is no way for us to know that. So I suggest that tomorrow after Vanya's training, we sit down and you can tell me everything that happened and we can try and stop this apocalypse." Five felt tears well up in his eyes, unable to stop them. He wiped his eyes with the cuff of his sleeve, cursing himself for acting so childish. He hadn't been looking, so when his father wrapped his arms around him he froze. He just sat there, arms hovering in front of his chest. But the tears came back with a vengeance, and Five burst into tears, clutching the back of his father's shirt and hiding his face in his shoulder upon realising this was probably the first proper hug he'd gotten in over 45 years, quite possibly ever. Reginald just tightened his hold, and let Five cry.


	6. Five

__

_hargreeves family mansion..._   
_new york city, new york..._   
_2002..._

When Five woke up the next morning, his chest hurt, but not in the same way it would if somebody had just broken his ribs like they had the previous day. Grunting, Five got to his feet and walked over to the mirror, lifting his shirt to inspect the damage. His bruising had already started fading, gone from a dark purple to a sickly green he knew would be gone by lunch. His cut was also mostly healed, so he found a pair of scissors and tweezers and removed the small line of stitching. He wiped down the injury, double checked his knee and ankle which were perfectly healed, and got dressed. He was half way inside his closet when his siblings barged into his room. They were all dressed for their school work and when Five glanced at his clock he saw he missed breakfast. He briefly wondered why nobody had woken him, then dismissed the thought. He wasn't hungry anyway. Five noticed that Vanya was wearing Klaus' shorts, since they were considerably too long, and Klaus was wearing her plaid dress. He felt something odd in his chest but shoved it down.

"What?" He snapped irritably, shooting them a look that had Luther and Klaus shifty.

"Are you okay?" Vanya asked timidly. Briefly Five wondered why he wouldn't be, memories of his previous childhood hazy. Truthfully his time in the apocalypse had done a lot of damage to his psyche, and considering that mentally Five was 58-years-old.

"Why wouldn't i be?" He asked them, finding his tie and pulling it around his neck. He hated it, right down to his core, and quickly removed it and tossed it back into the cupboard.

"We left you alone with dad." Luther pointed out quietly.

"And who's fault is that?" Diego hissed. Luther winced, but didn't deny it. A memory pushed to the surface of the last nightmare he had, two days before he ran away, and his expression went carefully blank.

"Yes well, as you can see he didn't hurt me." Five flashed them a sharp grin. "So, either get the fuck out, or i'll make you." Thankfully, most of them seemed to take the threat at face value and scrambled out, all except the girls.

' _Are you sure you're okay?_ ' Allison signed. Five's temper ratcheted up a notch and he sighed, heavily.

"He didn't hurt me." Five promised them. They both looked sceptical. "Yeah, shocked me too." He found a pair of knee high socks, grumbling at his shorts. "Stupid goddamn shorts." Vanya and Allison both looked confused by that as their brother tugged on his socks.

"What's wrong with the shorts? We thought you liked them?" Vanya asked for them both. Five huffed.

"I hate em." He muttered. "Don't like trousers either, to be fair. When you spend as long as i did alone you learn not to care about some things."

"Do you have a preference?" Five thought about it briefly, tilting his head.

"I wore a lot of tighter fitting clothes, softer on the skin. Leggings, skirts. They don't get caught on things as easy." He said absently. "Trousers ripped too easily, shorts too. Skirts rarely got caught on anything and leggings were good insulators in the harsher winters i had." When he looked up from his shoes both of his sisters were grinning, and he was immediately wary.

The clothes Allison had given Five were, admittedly, extremely comfortable. They were similar to his shorts, but came to below his knees and flowed more like a skirt. If Reginald cared that two of his sons were wearing women's clothes, he never mentioned it. As they sat down in the library, Grace came over with a small protein bar.

"I thought about what you said last night." Grace explained, sliding into the seat beside him. Five only tensed a little at the closeness. "Given that in order for your powers to develop correctly you need to consume a considerable amount of calories, i'm hoping these will get us around your eating issues." The bar had about 500 calories each. "Starting off, i'd like you to eat 4 of these a day. You likely won't gain weight, but we can't have you loosing weight too fast or you could develop an eating disorder."

"Um, thanks." He took a bite out of the bar, thankful that it seemed to have little to no flavour, just a hint of vanilla which was something Five hadn't tasted in decades. His school work was barely challenging and immediately he could see why Reginald had said he was tracked to graduate in June. The work he was doing was comparable to the AP classes he read about, books he found in a library that hadn't been destroyed in a small costal town he spent a winter in and had returned to several times over the decades. He got through all of it before lunch, so afterwards he went back to his room and started working on his equations. He needed space to spread out, to see the equations in one place, so he moved his desk and revealed the large wall, picked up a piece pf chalk and started writing. Time never quite passed the same when he got pulled into a bubble, so he was surprised to see Luther standing in his door with a plate of food. The portion was smaller than he'd usually have, but he doubted he'd eat it.

"Mom asked me to bring you this." Luther said, setting the plate on his desk beside a few sheets of paper. Luther noticed the equations and paused. "What are you working on?"

"Nothing that concerns you." Five said flatly.

"You don't have to be such an asshole, you know." Luther rolled his eyes.

"Well, i sacrificed my health and sanity to save you assholes after you refused to listen to me, so i don't really care."

"You can't ignore us forever, you know." Luther said.

"Well, i can certainly try."

_hargreeves family mansion..._   
_new york city, new york..._   
_2002..._   
_2 weeks later..._

Five had dedicated years of his life trying to find a way back to his family so he could save them. Contrary to whatever they seem to think, Five did actually care about them, he just had a hard time expressing it because he'd been taught to hide the feelings, to shove them into a box and lock them away. The following two weeks were, to put it bluntly, an adjustment. They all flinched when someone made a mistake, expecting punishment, but they were just gently corrected and moved on. Vanya lost control of her emotions several times, and every time the radio reported an unexplained thunderstorm she hid in her room and had to be coaxed back out. Allison had a bit of a challenge, but they soon figured out that she could still use her powers using sign language, even if a person didn't understand it. Ben was snarkier than Five remembered, but when you spent 12 years with only Klaus able to see you Five figured you'd got a little bitchy. Surprisingly, Five had watched Allison and Vanya grow closer than before. They spent evenings together, sometimes with Klaus, mostly just chatting, catching up. Allison missed her daughter, he knew, but she also understood why they had to go back in time and that one day she'd get her back. Not much had changed for Luther in regards to his powers, but for Klaus, himself and Diego, they'd found out there was more to their powers than they thought.

Learning he could draw from his energy and form concussive blasts from his hands was a trip, and he'd scared himself shitless when he used it for the first time and destroyed half of the training room and blown both him and Reginald off their feet. It was also a huge drain on his energy, so he agreed he shouldn't use it until he's got his eating disorder under control, which to be fair wasn't going well. He tried, but for some reason he couldn't keep a lot of solid foods down, but Grace was finding more alternate solutions. He had to intake an average of 6 thousand calories when he used his teleportation, and 8 thousand when he used the concussive blasts. But since he could barely eat 3 meals a day, he rarely had the energy to use his powers on the daily, which was just ramping up his anxiety and paranoia. Somehow, the tolerance he'd built up was decaying, which meant some of his other abilities were acting off. He knew why, of course, but he never actually mentioned it, though knew Grace and Reginald suspected there was more going on than what he said out loud.

And Five wasn't blind, he could see that Klaus was having issues sleeping just as much as he was. So, when he woke from a nightmare frantic and panicked, part of his brain decided he needed to seek out his brother in order to make sure he was alive, breathing, that he had just dreamed seeing Klaus dead. Sliding out of bed, Five grabbed a blanket off the end of his bed and jumped into Klaus' room. To no surprise Klaus was awake, eyes on Five the moment the teleporter jumped in.

"Hey." Five said quietly, trying to hide the panic in his voice. Five knew his brother was trying to stay sober, trying to master dispelling ghosts. Of course it didn't help that they were still angry and he still couldn't grasp it. "Can... can I stay here tonight?"

"Um, why?" Klaus blinked. In their first childhood Five had always gone to Vanya or Ben when he'd had nightmares, those that were few and far between.

"Shove over." Five said instead, pushing Klaus closer to the wall. Klaus has the same double bed that Five does, but his sheets are pink and red and the rest of his room was the same as it had been when they were kids. Klaus went willingly, still a little confused as Five just got comfortable. "You haven't slept in days, I haven't slept in days because every time I do I see you dead. So, just, go with it." Klaus blinked, but did go with it. Klaus laid down, watched his brother.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" Five grumbled, cracking an eye open.

"Trying to help me?" Klaus elaborated, twisting his fingers together.

"I happen to like sleeping." Five said snippily, then paused. "And I also happen to know you haven't slept in weeks."

"Ben." Klaus sighed.

"I'm not blind." Five snapped. "Now shut up and go to sleep."

When Klaus woke, there was no sign that Five had been in his bed other than the single scrap of paper that told Klaus Five bailed early. Scratching his neck, Klaus reluctantly rolled out of bed and slumped onto his window seat, pushing the window open and lighting up a smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> authors note  
> so i think the last bit is too forced together, but idk yet. let me know what you think 
> 
> (hate comments are deleted)


	7. Six

_ _

_ hargreeves family mansion... _   
_ new york city, new york... _   
_ 2002... _

Apparently 16 days was all the respite and adjustment Reginald could swing for them and they had to continue their extra curriculars. For Five, learning that he was to inherit Hargreeves International had been somewhat of a surprise. He hadn't even known their father had a business, let alone that one of them was destined to take over after he retired when they turned 21.

"So, there will be several things that you are not aware of that need to be addressed, Five." Reginald began. They were seated in his office, and Five was probably not dressed for such an important meeting. He was wearing bright pink leggings he stole from Vanya's closet and a loose black t-shirt that was soft as hell but hung off one shoulder. Reginald however hadn't seemed to care, and it was a Sunday, so he took it. "Hargreeves International is prominently in the medical technology business. We produce most of the worlds medical supplies, from bandages to MRI machines. Last year, you impressed Stark Industries with a piece of technology that was years beyond anything any of us has seen before." Reginald showed him the plans, something Five had seen before. He remembered building it from scraps in the middle of the apocalypse. Powered by solar energy, it could heal minor injuries in less than 10 seconds.

"I remember making this." Five nodded. "It saved me from infection quite a few times in my life."

"Due to this, you were offered an Internship, and you accepted." Five raised an eyebrow. "You are also set to inherit CEO position when you turn 21."

"Um, what?" Five blurted.

"You were the only one who showed an interest in the business."

"I'm an assassin." Five said flatly. "I haven't the first idea of how to listen to people, let alone run an entire business."

"Which is what Mr Stark and myself have begun to show you." Reginald assured him. "You are free to get whatever form of education you desire, as long as you take business classes." Five tilted his head, mulling it over.

"Seems fair."

"Excellent." Reginald gave him a genuine smile. "Now, every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday you have your internship with Stark Industries." Reginald explained. "Mr Stark has requested you return as there was a project you were working on that requires your attention."

"What does Stark Industries do?" Five wondered, flipping through some documents that he'd been given before.

"Primarily they have several military contracts, building their weapons for them." Reginald explained. "There are a few other projects that they work on, such as advancing the technological world with phones, computers, laptops and the likes, but they are the top weapons manufacturers in the world." Five nodded. He didn't have any real complaints with that.

"Very well." Five agreed.

_stark tower..._   
_manhattan, new york city..._

Five stood outside Stark Industries and gazed up at the building, hands deep inside the pockets of his nice slacks. The internship announcement couldn't have come at a better time, since Five had been itching to get out of the house for the last several days. He jumped inside, landing in front of the reception desk.

"Ah, Mr Hargreeves." The receptionist greeted with a smile, seemingly unphased by the jump, so he assumed he hadn't been quiet in the use of them. "If you'd sign in, scan your ID and then head up to level 83, Mr Stark and Miss Potts have requested to speak with you before you start."

"Did they say why?" Five asked cautiously, probably more paranoid than necessary as he scrawled his name and the time on the sign in screen and swiped the ID. 'Mr Five Hargreeves. Intern. Level 9 - all access' flashed on the screen, causing Five to raise an eyebrow.

"They did not." She shook her head.

"Thank you." Five jumped away before she could reply, appearing in front of the elevator on the 83rd floor. Seems that unconsciously Five already knew his way around the tower enough to jump to correct floors.

" **Good Morning, Mr Five**." Five startled, hard.

"Um, hello?" Five glanced around him, but aside from the empty hallway he was in there was nobody there.

" **Sir and Miss Potts are down the hall on your left, Mr Five.** " The voice said politely. " **My name is JARVIS, an Artificial Intelligence. I run the day to day of Stark Industries alongside Miss Potts and assist Mr Stark with whatever he needs here and at the Malibu SI headquarters.** "

"Oh." Five opened to door he was lead to and found himself in a lab. Five's eyes were immediately drawn to the equations scrawled on a holographic screen and he jumped over, his eyes wide. "These are.."

"The result of your genius brain." Another voice replied behind him and Five didn't even think before reacting. He blinked out, reappearing behind the man and kicking his knee in. He crumpled, and Five had his gun pressed against the back of his head in the blink of an eye. "Holy shit! Five what the hell man!"

"Five!" His head snapped up and his face hardened, glaring at the redhead who had shown up. "Listen, Five. You're in Stark Tower. It's 2002, my name is Pepper, that's Tony. You work as Mr Starks personal intern." Five blinked, and while he didn't have a damn clue what she was talking about, he knew he wasn't in any danger. All the details rang true to what his father had told him earlier that morning. He clicked the safety on and jumped away from Tony, gun back in his bag and clearing his throat.

"My apologies." Five said, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Your father warned us not to sneak up on you." Pepper replied, shooting Tony a glare.

"You pack a mean kick, kid." Tony grumbled, getting to his feet. Five bristled at being called 'kid'. But when Tony finally looked at Five the younger boy felt himself pale and his stomach bottom out. Because he recognised the man.

"You have no idea who we are, do you?" Pepper said, voice softening when she recognized the look on Five's face. "Mr Hargreeves mentioned that you brought your siblings back in time?"

"Um, I did." Five reluctantly admitted. "But I think I did more than that. I need to do some calculations, but I'm relatively certain that I've also brought us into an alternate dimension. Because in the world I remember, in 1998 Tony Stark died."

"I died." Tony echoed in disbelief.

"Yes." Five looked away, horribly uncomfortable by the entire situation. "I spent small period of time working for the Temps Commission, making corrections in the timeline in order to protect it, or thats what i thought i was doing anyway. I know for certain that you died at 1408 on Monday the 21st of June 1998, because I pulled the trigger." Both Tony and Pepper stared at Five.

"This seems like a drinks conversation." Tony finally said, clapping his hands together. "Drinks? Good. Let's go."

Which is how Five found himself up on the communal floor, a glass of whisky in hand, sitting stiffly on a couch. Pepper had excused herself to attend to SI business, leaving Five alone with Stark.

"Sooo, you killed me, huh?" Tony suddenly spoke up. Five winced, throwing back his drink. The whisky went down with only a little burn, settling pleasantly in his stomach.

"I was doing a job." Five replied. "I wanted to get back to my family. The only way I could do that was do work for the Commission and maintain order to the timeline. In my original timeline, i was given a picture of a man and told that they were making technological advancements too early. So I was sent to Hawaii, and I took you out when you were sipping a Pina colada on a beach. I didn't know you're name and i honestly didn't care." At that point he'd been out of his mind with grief, and then after that hit had been the Kennedy assignment.

"That's, a lot of detail."

"I remember a lot of stuff." Five deflected. His best kept secret was his memory. The fact that he never forgot anything unless his memory was altered. Which is another thing he should have realised that week that never happened. He would have remembered if Vanya had been killing Nanny's and had powers. Hargreeves must have had Allison rumour him into forgetting. "But I'll never forget anything i was forced to do while working for her." Tony seemed sympathetic, which Five hated with a passion. He bit his tongue, wishing that his friends were there, but last time he saw them one was dead, one insane and he truly had no idea if they existed in this dimensional timeline.

"I assume you aren't going to kill me now?" Tony asked.

"Not unless you piss me off." Five shrugged, smirking. Tony laughed.

"Come on, short stack, let's do some science. Pep is going to kill me if i don't get this prototype finished by Friday."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES I KNOW I SCREWED UP IM SORRY. but honestly i can't figure out a way for Tony to be in New York and for the internship to be legit if i didn't have stark industries in the city already. sorry
> 
> this will continue into Iron Man 1, stick around

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to phase one of my TUA alternate universe fic!
> 
> I do not welcome hate, your comments will be deleted. I am not perfect, so please do not take offence if i do not get the characters perfect. These next six chapters are set during the first few weeks of being back in time, where the siblings are getting used to their new realities.
> 
> YES, i am aware my timelines are a little whacked, but i could not even think about how to fix them so suck it up.
> 
> enjoy!!


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